Valtteri Bottas comfortably led a Mercedes 1-2 during an error-strewn opening practice session for Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Bottas set a sequence of quick times on Pirelli’s Soft compound tyre during the opening 90-minute session, chipping away at his benchmark on several occasions.
Bottas wound up with a time of 1:18.148, over a second faster than the pole time set by Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton at last year’s event.
Hamilton wound up second, 0.849s behind Bottas, while Sebastian Vettel was the only other driver to get within a second of Bottas’ time, having run the Supersoft tyres.
Bottas and Vettel were two of several drivers to get caught out by the conditions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, despite the field’s experience at the sport’s preferred testing venue.
Bottas spun through Turn 10 early on while Vettel looped his Ferrari around Turn 13 – one of several drivers to struggle at the corner, which marks the downhill entry to the chicane complex.
Result: Spanish Grand Prix first practice times in full
Kimi Raikkonen, Max Verstappen and Marcus Ericsson all went wide while the returning Robert Kubica spun on his first Supersoft hot lap.
The Pole’s participation in the session was his first appearance at a Grand Prix weekend since the season-ending Abu Dhabi event in 2010, and he took Sergey Sirotkin’s Williams FW41 for the session.
Kubica finished over three seconds off the pace as Williams was comfortably the slowest package in the session, while Lance Stroll went off at Turn 5 mere moments after Kubica’s spin.
Stroll, having said it was "unbelievable how bad the balance is", bounced through the Turn 5 gravel and the Virtual Safety Car was required to clear his car, which had stopped just short of the wall.
However, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was less fortunate, as he was one of many drivers to encounter trouble at the entry to Turn 4 – though the only one to hit the barriers.
Ricciardo went deep and nudged the wall, with his Red Bull RB14 suffering front-wing and suspension damage in the impact.
Brendon Hartley and Romain Grosjean both ran through the gravel at the corner, while Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez had mid-corner snaps and went perilously close.
Ricciardo’s Red Bull team-mate Verstappen used Mediums to place fourth in the session, splitting the Ferrari drivers, while Fernando Alonso was sixth, 1.7s off Bottas, as McLaren ran its upgraded nose section.
Ricciardo’s early time was sufficient for him to remain in seventh spot, as Grosjean – who had another trip through the gravel at Turn 7 – was eighth, in front of McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne and Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly.
Kevin Magnussen and Charles Leclerc took 11th and 12th respectively – and almost came together along the pit straight towards the end of the session, with Leclerc having to jink right to avoid the Haas driver.
Perez claimed 13th for Force India, Marcus Ericsson recovered from an early spin to collect 14th, while Renault had a low-key session as Carlos Sainz Jr. and Nico Hulkenberg took 15th and 17th, split by Esteban Ocon.
Hartley was 18th for Toro Rosso, ahead of the aforementioned Williams drivers.
